Junior hockey calendar by month: windows, applications and drafts

How to read this calendar

Every entry says whose date it is. Some are federation rules that repeat every season, some are application deadlines for one intake, and some are draft dates that move each year. Finnish dates here are for the 2027 intake; the Swedish NIU dates are for the cycle that opens on 6 September 2026. Dates reset, so treat this as a list of what to ask about, not as a schedule to rely on. For the transfer windows explained in full, see the transfer windows guide.

What the calendar does not contain. Tryout and camp dates. In EHA's country checks, including Austria and Slovakia, no federation published a tryout window; clubs set their own. The general IIHF transfer window is waived for under-18 transfers, but domestic windows may still apply, as the entries below show.

January

• Sweden, NIU ice hockey (Svenska Ishockeyförbundet): contact with potential students may begin on 1 January of the year the student is in grade 8, but nothing can be finalised; clubs may invite students to tryouts or visits. At the other end of the cycle, 25 January is the last day to notify students of an athletic place and 26 January the last day for students to accept.
• USA, NCAA Division I (via College Hockey Inc.): men's coaches may begin recruiting conversations on 1 January of the sophomore (grade 10) year; unofficial visits may start the same day.
• Sweden, general window for a move from a foreign club (SIF): ends 31 January. Competition-specific deadlines can differ.
• Czechia, domestic transfer window (ČSLH): ends 31 January.
• Germany, domestic windows (DEB Spielordnung Art. 55): the second window runs 1 December to 31 January. How it interacts with the IIHF's waiver for under-18s needs checking with the DEB.
• Austria, U20i and U18i International League: roster additions ended 31 January in 2025-26; check the date for the current season.
• Sweden, regular gymnasium applications: the window falls in January and February. For the 2026 intake some municipalities closed on 2 February, 5 February or 12 February, so the last day depends on the municipality.

February

• IIHF general window closes 15 February. It does not apply to transfers of players under 18 (Regulations art. I.5.2).
• Austria, domestic licensing window (ÖEHV): ends 15 February and applies regardless of age.
• Austria, the Linz hockey academy: admits after the semester break, roughly early February, by application, video and motivation letter rather than an on-ice tryout.
• Finland, spring joint application to upper secondary school (Opintopolku): opens 16 February 2027 at 08:00. Lukio and vocational programmes can be applied for in this application.

March

• Finland, joint application: closes 16 March 2027 at 15:00.
• USA, NTDP: reported to hold its invitation-only evaluation camp in March.

April

• Switzerland (SIHF): the main registration period opens 15 April.
• USA, NCAA (via College Hockey Inc.): final amateurism certification requests open 1 April for players enrolling in the fall.

May

• Czechia, domestic transfer window (ČSLH): opens 1 May.
• USA, USHL drafts: reported for early May; the 2026 drafts were set for 4 and 5 May. The date moves each year.

June

• Sweden (SIF), Germany (DEB), Austria (ÖEHV): the Swedish general window for a foreign-club move, the first German domestic window and the Austrian licensing window all open 1 June.
• Canada, CHL Import Draft: held 30 June in 2026 and 2 July in 2025, so it falls between late June and early July. The date is set each year.
• Finland, joint application results (Opintopolku): published no earlier than 17 June 2027.

July

• IIHF general window opens 1 July (Regulations art. I.4.8), in force for Northern Hemisphere members until 15 February.
• Finland: last day to accept a study place 1 July 2027.
• Sweden, regular gymnasium: final municipal decisions came around 1 July in one municipality's timeline; others differ.

August

• USA, NCAA (via College Hockey Inc.): official visits, which are expense-paid and last up to 48 hours, begin 1 August of grade 11.
• Finland: waiting-list places can be offered until 13 August 2027.

September

• Sweden, NIU: the application opens 6 September.
• Switzerland and Germany: the Swiss main period and the first German window both end 15 September.

October

• Sweden, NIU: 10 October is the first valid date to offer an athletic NIU place.
• Canada, WHL: clubs with more than three overage (20-year-old) players must cut down to three by 16 October.

November

• Switzerland (SIHF): the second period, 1 November to 31 December, is also the deadline for international transfers into youth and amateur hockey.
• Finland (SJL): the domestic transfer window closes 30 November for players U15 and younger, except when the player moves to Finland permanently with a guardian.

December

• Sweden, NIU: 1 December is the last day to apply.
• Germany (DEB): the second domestic window opens 1 December.

What this calendar cannot confirm

• Tryout and camp dates, which clubs set themselves.
• A national Swedish deadline for regular gymnasium applications; municipalities set the last day.
• School application calendars for Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
• Whether the Swedish NIU timeline lets a non-EU minor apply. That is a permit question, covered in the school and education guide.

For the paperwork that sits behind these dates, see the documents and IIHF transfer guide.

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